Door or shutter holder



(No Model.)

0. W. BLACKBURN. DOUR OR SHUTTER HOLDER- No. 539,930. Patented May 28 1895.

I I 1 3C116;

CharlesI ZBlackfiurm 1 drama --rrrca CHARLES WILLIAM'BLAOKBURN, OF LINCOLN, ILLINOIS.

DOOR OR SHUTTER HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 539,930, dated May 28, 1 895.

Application filed October 20, 1894. Serial No. 526,499- (No model.)

To 00% whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES WILLIAM BLACKBURN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lincoln, in the county of Logan and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Door or Shutter Holder, of which the fol lowing is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of door or shutter holders wherein a lever is provided at one end with a hook," and mounted so that the said hook may en-. gage with an object either on or off the door, whereby the latter may be held, a spring being connected with the lever so as to give it the capability of yieldingly engaging said obj ect. Heretofore these devices have been constructed so that the door would engage them when the device operates, and sothat not only thehook on the lever would be in contact with the door, but so that the whole of the device would be struck by the door when the same is opened. Such an arrangement is defective in so much as the frequent careless operations of the door cause it to be engaged with the device in a forcible manner, thus tending to break or otherwise injure it. This defect is present in all species of the holder, since the parts are bound to engage whether secured tion will project laterally away from the remainder of the device, thusmaking it possi bio for the door to be moved to an opened position without engaging any portion of the holder except the securing hook. In the peculiar means for attaining this result lies my invention, and these are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 represents a perspective View of a portion of a door and building to which my improvements are shown as applied, Fig. 2, a horizontal section taken through the holder; Fig. 3, a detail perspective of the lever, showing it enlarged and detached from the remainder of the device.

The reference numeral 1 indicates a portion of'the building, to which the door ZbelOngs. This door is shown to be one which swings on a vertical axis, but this is obviously immaterial, since the axis of the door could be changed ni any way, or rather the device is applicable to all doors whatever maybe the direction of their axes.

My improved holder consists, essentially, of four parts, the base a, lever b, spring 0, and pin or key at. The base a is formed of cast metal, preferably brass, and with the four lugs 3 projecting out from its sides, and by which it is secured in place, screws 4 being provided and passed through said lugs and into the building 1.

Arising from the inner ends of the lugs 3 are the outwardly-projecting plate-like portions 5, which form a socket having an open outer end. The front side of the socket is formed perpendicular, while the opposite side 'is rounded, as may be seen by reference to the drawings. The rounded end of the socket 5 is formed, on its inner side, With the inwardly-extending portion 6, which is dished or depressed on its outer surface, as shown at 7. In this depressed portion 7, the inner end of the spring 0 is arranged, as may be seen by reference to the drawings and as will be more fully described hereinafter. Passing vertically through the sides of the socket 5,15 the split key d, which also passes through the opening 9 formed transversely in the lower extremity of the lever 17. The lever 11 com-- prises essentially an eye 10, through which the finger of the operator may be passed. Belowthis eye, and at the outer end of the lever, the downwardly-extending lip 11 is formed, and this lip is associated with the plane portion 12, which extends under the eye 10, and which merges into the reduced and downwardly-extending arm 13 of the lever. In this arm the opening 9-aforesaid is formed, and the said arm is of such a width that it will fit'snugly within the socket 5 and be incapable of vertical movement therein.

14 indicates two shoulders, which arerespectively formed on each side of the lever,

.and which are provided to bear against the upper edge of the socket 5, when the lever is swung back, and prevent excessive swinging of the lever. Formed integral with the lever,

upper end of the spring a is seated. Thus it will be seen that the lever is given atendency toward the door, and that the spring 0 being of the expansive class, pushes said lever in that direction. It is impossible, however, for the lever to extend so that the arm 13 will be more than perpendicular to the base (1, since the said arm will necessarily bind against the square portion of the socket 5-, thereby restricting its further movement. On the other hand, excessive rearward movement of the lever is prevented by the shoulders 14 aforesaid, which bind against the outer edges of the socket as such lIlOV'GlIl'OlliJ lS carried out.

17 indicates a slotted plate which comprises the vertically-aligned lugs 18, through which securing screws are passed, and the tapering edge 19 arranged to lie in alignment with the outer edge of the door. The slot of the plate is designated by the numeral 20, and is adapted for the reception of the lip 11, the thickness of the plate being about equal to the length of the said lip, so that the latter will be completely received in the slot. This plate is rigidly secured to the inner sideof the door and at its outer edge, so that as the door is moved to an opened position the plate will be in position to receive the lip 11 as described. The lever is substantially L-shaped, and the keeper 17 interlocks with the lip in a point in advance of and substantially in a line with the angularly disposed spring, and this, together with the abutting of the lever against the front of the socket, prevents the tendency of the door or shutter to swing outward exerting any strain on the spring.

The operation of my invention will not require any elaborate description, since it will be apparent from the foregoing specification. As the door is swung on its hinges, the outer edge of the former will engage the inclined face of the eye 10, thus causing the lever to be oscillated on its fulcrum,'the pin or key d, so as to allow the door to pass by it, after which the spring 0 returns the lever to its normal position and causes the lip 11 toenter the slot 20, all of which has been described and is shown in the drawings, particularlyin Fig. 2.

It will be observed that by the above-described construction the object of my invention is adeqtiately fulfille'd, and that the door may be made to engage the holder with any degree of force and without hurting the same. The degree of force with which the door may engage the holder is only limited by the capabilities of the door and building of withstandingtheshock. In other words, theholder is not affected in the least degree by this operation of the door, which may continue without aitecting any part of the holder excepting the lever, which is oscillated as explained by its engagement with the door.

WVhile I have described the invention in connection with a door, it will be understood that this is not the only use to which it may be put; for, as would be inferred from the title of the invention, it is applicable to 'win (low-shutters, and may be used in this connection with results equally as advantageous as those attending its use with doors.

Having described the invention, I claiih A door or shutter holder, comprising a base plate, having an oblong socket with a straight front wall and a solid rear wall and provided at the rear wall with an angularly disposed cylindrical seat, a substantially L -shaped latch lever pivoted at one end in the socket adjacent to the front wall and bearing against the same to limit its forward movement, said latch lever being provided at its front end with an inwardly extending flange, and hav' ing at the rear of its angle a cylindrical seat arranged in alignment with the seat of the base plate, the angularly disposed spiral spring having its end portions arranged in said seats and having its ceiitral portion exposed, to enable it to be readily detached and replaced without disconnecting the latch lever and the base plate, and a keeper designed to be secured to the free edge of a door or shutter and arranged to fit against the inner face of the outer arm of the latch lever and to receive in its opening the flange thereof, whereby the latch lever is interlocked with the keeper and the spring is relieved of strain when the shutter or door is' secured, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHAS. WILLIAM BLACKBURN.

WVit'ne'sses: I

PETER MURPHY, CHAS. W. SMALL.

ICO 

